Snared drug dealer in Portsmouth stuffed his mouth with wraps of crack and heroin

Portsmouth Crown Court heard Devon Forbes had come from Croydon to sell crack and heroin in Portsmouth after failing his architecture degree course.

The 20-year-old was spotted handing over a wrap to an addict in the city.

But when police stopped him he could barely talk. He then pulled out 12 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin from his mouth.

Officers found a hotel key on him and searched his room, finding even more drugs.

In all, he had 305 wraps, some of crack cocaine worth £370 and others of heroin worth £2,800.

Forbes was arrested by Portsmouth’s drugs-related harms team, which launched in January.

Jailing Forbes for four years after he admitted two charges of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply, Recorder Alastair Malcolm QC said: ‘You’re intelligent enough to know what you were getting yourself involved in.

‘You got yourself involved in the supply of class A drugs and you got yourself involved while knowing what the penalties might be.’

He added: ‘The drugs were of substantial value and you were playing a significant role at the very least.’

Forbes has family connections and friends in Portsmouth, the court heard.

Hugh French, mitigating, said police had found just 25 text messages on his client’s phone.

‘There’s nothing in those that in any way says he is directing or organising,’ Mr French said.

He added that Forbes, of Sunny Bank, Croydon, had gone into debt when he started an architecture degree course.

He had not realised he had to pay for materials.

‘He wasn’t expecting this so he struggled in his course,’ Mr French said.

That meant he had to work and struggled, failing two years in a row.

When he tried to raise £9,000 to pay for another year, he was unable to do so.

Mr French said Forbes turned to dealing drugs.

‘And so it was that he found himself drawn into the world of drug dealing,’ Mr French said.